Proactive Service Recovery

I got an interesting e-mail from Netflix:

Yesterday, you may have had trouble instantly watching TV episodes or movies due to technical issues.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. If you attempted and were unable to instantly watch TV episodes or movies yesterday, click on this account specific link in the next 7 days to apply your 2% credit to your next billing statement.

... we apologize for any inconvenience, and thank you for your understanding. If you need further assistance, please call us ...

That's very close to a perfect service recovery - the "very close" is on account of the minor inconvenience of having to click a link to claim the credit. I expect anyone who overlooks the message until it's too late to claim the credit will have quite a different impression - and even though I claimed the credit in time, it's left me with the distinct impression that there was at least one weasel in the meeting who didn't feel the customer was owed anything at all and wanted to minimize cost rather than maximize customer service.

That minor flaw aside, their prompt reaction demonstrates a level customer service and responsibility that many companies are unwilling to provide, and seem incapable even of conceiving.

It also calls to mind the significantly lower level of concern shown by other companies that offer a 24/7 service: electricity, water, internet access, cable television, cell phone service. In general, they offer a high level of service availability, and outages are very rare - but when an outage occurs, they demonstrate a complete lack of concern and make every attempt to dodge responsibility. The cable company has never bothered to apologize for a power outage, have certainly never sent me a refund, and when I've had to call them to report a problem, they offer up some lame excuse in an irritated tone.

Netflix's example in this instance is one for the books - specifically, the "customer service" textbooks: when even a minor problem arises with your service...

1. Be proactive: don't make the customer call you to report a problem you already know about.
2. Accept responsibility: apologize and don't offer lame excuses or try to shift the blame
3. Provide concession: preferably, without putting the burden on the customer to claim it

Do these things, and the customer will likely be more impressed by your reaction than disappointed by the problem. It's really not that hard, and doesn't cost that much, to not only salvage the relationship, but leave the customer with a long-term impression that your company is genuinely concerned about customer satisfaction (how many advertising and social media dollars would you have to spend to build that much positive sentiment?)

Fail to do them, and you can save the embarrassment of having to admit the problem occurred, and the cost of any concession - but you'll disappoint the customer. While you may not lose their business, don't kid yourself: the reason they remain "loyal" to your company is only their own apathy, coupled with the failure of your competitors to do any better, and it lasts only as long as no-one else does any better.